What res were you running with the 770?

 

1920x1080

It definitely matters more than in FSX/P3D v1.

 

The biggest difference I have found are:

-Because it's DX11, more exotic AA modes are required. The methods used in FSX don't work. If you can live with a few jaggies, this doesn't matter much, but if you want that perfect image without shimmering and jaggies you will need to employ some driver hacks which will require a beefy GPU

 

-Real-time shadows are the real GPU killers, just like X-Plane (which implemented this before P3D). With a slower GPU you have to reduce the number of cascades, which also requires you to dial back on the shadow draw distances (to prevent the shadow maps from becoming too low-resolution, causing them to shimmer and flicker).

 

Of course LM are constantly working on the code, and there have been some significant performance improvements with regard to shadows. Also, with the shadowing code being completely broken in P3D 2.3 and 2.4 (due to some wrong variable names in the HLSL code), it's not really a usable feature at this point. So I would suggest waiting until P3D 2.5 before making any decisions about upgrading the GPU.

I will keep you posted So far my EVGA 570HD keeps a solid 20fps. My upgrade will motliest coincide with the the performance i get in Star Citizen.

 

i have found with my 570 that Turing tessellation one notch down from max is more benefit to me than at max though at max tessellation Im only at most using %60 of my GPU power

Are you locking fps? I found (interesting) at unlimited fps my GPU usage goes to max. But at say 30 fps it's about 50% in the default scenario I described above.

I went from a MSI gtx 570 1,2gb to a new gigabyte gtx 970 g1 4gb

 

Running a 2700k @ 4,6ghz 

Dell U3014 2560x1600

 

With gtx 570:

Prepar3d v2.0 to 2.2...  I had to go down the resolution to 1920x1200 mid level in graphics setup

Prepar3d v2.3-2.4  I could use 2560x1600 with pretty decent results

 

Now, with gtx970, Prepar is like an other simulator. I use prepar3d fps limiter to 30. It is rock solid at 30fps with FsGlobal Ultimate + FTX global + FTX vector + FTX OpenLC Europe   with most detail at max setting.

 

Huge improvement from gtx 570 to 970.  

2560x1600 is quite demanding resolution.

Are you locking fps? I found (interesting) at unlimited fps my GPU usage goes to max. But at say 30 fps it's about 50% in the default scenario I described above.

Yes, going back to old FSX days, Phil Taylor explained that set to unlimited, the program will always try to get the MAX FPS at the expense of everything else In FSX that meant really loading the CPU. In P3D with the changes in the rendering engine, that loads the GPU.

 

That's why I mentioned earlier that I lock mine at 22 and have a smooth, stutter free experience. 50-60fps with an occasional stutter is not acceptable to me.

 

Vic

Is 22 your preference or some special number?  I've been trying locking at 25 and it's just not smooth...  it's not that it stutters, but the 25 fps isn't great.  And I like to run unlimited.  But I think I've proven that's not possible - so basically I have to change the way I sim unless I get a new card.  The good thing is my current PSU can handle the 970 and once its in stock 350 bucks isn't too horrible.

 

@_alioth_ - thanks for your report.  

 

EDIT;  I've tried running 25 fps locked and it's still stuttery...  GPU is at 60% usage hmmm...  

My monitor has a refresh rate of 60 so I try to find a multiple and add a few because of the 1/2 vsync issue. 20/30/45/60 +2.

 

Try 22 or 32 and see if that helps.

 

Vic

I've been making graphs and noticed that the sim runs smoother at 15/20/30 on a 60Hz monitor, +1 or +2 adds a graininess to the feel, and sawtooths up the graph. Even smoother in FSX fullscreen game mode with 1/4, 1/3, or 1/2 vsync. For P3D we need faster refresh monitors, a 120Hz monitor halve the vsync problem over 60Hz monitors.

Very good - I've always liked charts and graphs too...

Ryan, I recently upgraded my nvidia 470 and got a GTX 780. I got a big bump in FPS probably a 25% increase, even though I turned up the display settings. I have less stuttering and the sim generally runs well. I think you will defiantly be notice a performance increase if you choose to upgrade, get the best graphics card you can afford.

 

 

I found (interesting) at unlimited fps my GPU usage goes to max.

If you think about that, it is completely expected that one of your CPU or your GPU (which ever is the limiting factor) is going to go to max. Isn't that what 'unlimited' is all about?

 

What I would be interested in in this scenario is how far behind your CPU is from your GPU. If they're close, then a big GPU upgrade may just shift the limiting factor over to the CPU. (Given your current performance influencing settings.)

How about comparing your 570 to another more up to date card? Let's do the math:

 

GTX 570 has

- 480 cuda cores = 23.44% of GTX 980

- fill rate 44GT/s = 30.56% of GTX 980

- memory bandwidth 152 Gb/s = 67.86% of GTX 980

 

GTX 980 has

- 2048 cuda cores = 426.67% of GTX 570

- fill rate 144GT/s = 327.27% of GTX 570

- memory bandwidth 224 Gb/s = 147.37% of GTX 570

I have a question. I currently have a 4770K and a GTX 780. Now I got burned in the silicone lottery :angry:, but I noticed with P3D, that even at somewhat lower frame rates, I am getting a smooth response from the simulation.

 

I suppose everyone wants the latest and greatest. Oh yeah...the question :blink: If I were to wait and buy a GTX 980 when the 8GB flavour comes out, would I be able to put off upgrading CPU? Would the better graphics card give me a better experience with P3D or would my relatively slow CPU bottleneck the system?

 

The next CPU upgrade will involve motherboard, memory and CPU, given that the next generation will be using DDR4. I'm not sure I'll get a major bang for my buck going to a 4790K, given that would mean staying with my current graphics card. The current graphics card is not a loser. I'm just looking to get improvement at best value.

 

It would either be a 4790K or the upgraded graphics card. I would prefer to wait at least a year before putting out 1000-1500 dollars for the next gen CPU and other stuff.

 

Any comments would be appreciated. I'm not looking for absolutes, but guidance is most welcome. I hope this is not considered off topic.

 

Graham

Are you locking fps? I found (interesting) at unlimited fps my GPU usage goes to max. But at say 30 fps it's about 50% in the default scenario I described above.

 

I just leave it to what P3D set it to 20fps I can get more if i need it but FPS really isn't everything sure it looks good to have those high numbers but everything renders fine at the default 20fps I can have full could cover and fly over OpenLC paris and keep a solid 20fps.

 

mind you this is not locked externally just set in P3D.

 

On a side note I have the settings set in the nvidia control panel to quality I run 1920x1080 with P3D set to show the taskbar.   So that I can watch youtube videos and stuff while flying (:

 

Scenery settings are 1 notch below max except building which are 2 notches down. %35 AI GA %16 AI Comercial %6 traffic small boats %12 large boats.

 

Clouds set to whatever active sky next has it 90km i think.   All the rest is bog standard.

 

O yes a important side note about EVGA cards they come overclocked its what EVGA does my card runs at its normal clock speed of 797 mHz core and 1950 MHz memory it just what EVGA does sells cards overclocked and you get a warranty with their factory overclocking.  Normal 570's run at 732 MHZ and 1464 MHz respectively 

 

Anyway I am not trying to dissuade you from buying a new card but sometimes waiting gets you the new card at a cheaper price (:  Just like steam sales LOL

I have a question. I currently have a 4770K and a GTX 780. Now I got burned in the silicone lottery :angry:, but I noticed with P3D, that even at somewhat lower frame rates, I am getting a smooth response from the simulation.

 

I suppose everyone wants the latest and greatest. Oh yeah...the question :blink: If I were to wait and buy a GTX 980 when the 8GB flavour comes out, would I be able to put off upgrading CPU? Would the better graphics card give me a better experience with P3D or would my relatively slow CPU bottleneck the system?

 

The next CPU upgrade will involve motherboard, memory and CPU, given that the next generation will be using DDR4. I'm not sure I'll get a major bang for my buck going to a 4790K, given that would mean staying with my current graphics card. The current graphics card is not a loser. I'm just looking to get improvement at best value.

 

It would either be a 4790K or the upgraded graphics card. I would prefer to wait at least a year before putting out 1000-1500 dollars for the next gen CPU and other stuff.

 

Any comments would be appreciated. I'm not looking for absolutes, but guidance is most welcome. I hope this is not considered off topic.

 

Graham

 

Given your current setup of 4770K and GTX 780, I would keep that for the time being.

 

If you spent the $ to upgrade to 4790K and GTX 980 I don't think you would get much extra performance for the spend. You could probably measure the increase in single digit FPS increase in most situations - IMO it wouldn't be worth it.

 

I would hang off until Intel's Skylake CPU's come out and Nvidia's "full fat" Maxwell GPUS.

 

If you want to improve your simming experience instead of just improving FPS then perhaps invest in a larger/better display or some peripherals such yokes/throttles/Goflight panels etc (if you don't already have them) - I recently had the same dilemma as you, I'm running a 4670K and GTX 780 and had to fight the urge to go to an X99 6-core platform with GTX 980, after a bit of investigation I found that the performance gains in P3D v2 would not be very significant from my current setup.

 

The cash was still burning a hole in my pocket so I splurged on a pre-order Iris Dynamics force feedback yoke and set of Philips Fidelio X2 headphones.